It looks like we have have another race issue along the lines of Resident Evil 5. 
 

Anyone catch this? Many blogs are posting about it, including Joystiq, and Destructoid. I find the controversy pretty silly, but it appears the term "sambo", which is a racial slur (I never heard of it before this incident though), can be used in the game, causing a watermelon-like object to appear (apparently sambo is also an Ecuadorian name for "fig leaf gourd").

Kotaku wrote a lengthy post on it, which you can read here.

I had never even heard of the term, much less knew what it meant. There was bound to be something in this game that someone found rascist, just because of the sheer scope of the game. However there is NO way that they meant for any misunderstanding like this to make it into the game. To make up for the mistake, they should remove "sambo" and include "Colbert"

Somebody better tell these guys.
 
Oh here's that Screwattack video, OPs link isn't working.
 

sambo ? wtf

It's all a storm in a tea cup, or a watermelon, if you ask me.

Man... what were the odds that, in addition to being a racial slur against people of African descent, a "sambo" is an object that looks remarkably like a watermelon? That's not racism. That's just bad luck.

Fucking ridiculous. People should shut up. Honestly... Racism in the soup next...

Hearing all these people go mad over nothing makes me wish I was racist because it's funny watching it blow up. I couldn't give a damn about someone of any colour saying some racial slur that 'offends' white people for example because I am not offended by it because it's just words.

 Since I'm the kind of person who wouldn't care if they used the "N" word, since I really don't care about that sort of thing, it's even less upsetting seeing a term I've never even heard of before.
 
This is yet another non-issue. There are basically two scenarios, here:
It was all an unintentional mistake made by people who were legitimately unaware of the racial meaning. OR
There was one really racist programmer who snuck this in as a nod.
 
Either way, is anyone really going to condemn the game, as a whole, over it? 

If you read what the developers said they obviously didn't mean any offence and it's just a coincidence that 'sambo' (in Scribblenauts' case it's meant to represent a fig leaf gourd) also looks like a watermelon. I think people are getting worked up over nothing. Do they seriously believe someone was trying to be racist?

Sambo is a slang for sandwich. That's all I can tell you.
 
Just realised I actually have those melons in my backyard.

If only Hambo were here

I have never even heard of that term but I agree with all the Screwattack video said. Why bring up such an inane phrase just to pull the race card? It is controversy for controversy's sake and has no benefits.

"  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sambo  says it means black person (now only derogatory).  and what is a "watermelon-like object"?  Right or wrong, I don't know. "

I've never heard that word before.

YOU ARE ALL RACIST!!!111one

"Sambo is a slang for sandwich. That's all I can tell you.  Just realised I actually have those melons in my backyard. "

Good job Kotaku with the sensationalistic bullshit articles.  Or I guess I should more specifically blame the person who wrote it.  Brian Ashcraft?  For shame, sir.  That's a garbage story, you're better than that.

Nobody really even knew the word Sambo. Why does it matter? Couldn't we just leave it as "another word" instead of making a big deal about it?

" Good job Kotaku with the sensationalistic bullshit articles.  Or I guess I should more specifically blame the person who wrote it.  Brian Ashcraft?  For shame, sir.  That's a garbage story, you're better than that. "

Playing the race card disgusts me.

For fucks sake. 
 
The people at the opposite end of these stupid racial problems DON'T FUCKING CARE. It's the goddamn media that wants to tell people that people are offended by something when the majority really isn't. 
 
Plus why the fuck would a company a whole fucking game with the intention of insulting a certain race and make the insult so goddamn obscure?

" @EvilTwin said:

" Good job Kotaku with the sensationalistic bullshit articles.  Or I guess I should more specifically blame the person who wrote it.  Brian Ashcraft?  For shame, sir.  That's a garbage story, you're better than that. "

He's not, though. They're a blog of unproffesionals. Its been proven dozens of times over. "

It doesn't suprise me that they found a racist word....or lack there of.  I mean if thats the case, I wonder what other words you can use in there that really shouldn't be in there.

Between this and their recent article on Brothers In Arms:HH, I'm really starting too hate Kataku. They are officially deleted off my RSS feed.

I am really surprised that so many of you do not know what sambo means. I know its before out time, but I'd figure we'd still know what it meant. 
 
Sambo, as I have always understood the term, is a late nineteenth 19th and 20th century term to refer to a cute-but-dumb caricature of a young black boy (often referred to as 'little black sambo'). This can certainly be seen as derogatory (since it gives you a watermelon of all things).

I don't much care, of course, because my sensibilities are not so easily offended. But I can see why this turned a few heads. It is certainly more legitimate than the RE5 nonsense.

Uncharted 2 has Twitter support?!  Wow, that's cool!  Funny that they have it rolled out before Xbox Live.  lol 
 
Oh, sorry...what were we talking about?

Sambo is also the name of a Russian martial art. So yeah, this is pretty stupid considering how many different meanings the term has.

Is it as racist as the kid in the Scribblenauts advert who momentarily considers spawning a black guy as a mode of transport?
 
 

racist, sexist, corrupted 
whatever, everybody is throwing out those words whitout thinking

" Sambo is also the name of a Russian martial art. So yeah, this is pretty stupid considering how many different meanings the term has. "

All I can say is that Kotaku sucks my ass.

Kotaku may have many interesting posts, but lots are only interesting to get clicks. Kotaku, do you really need to turn tricks in order to get people to touch you? ...I probably shouldn't answer that.

As a devout follower of the Great Old Ones, it offends my religious sensibilities that one may summon, fight, and even ride, several of them. I demand that this thoughtless and prejudiced slur against our beliefs be removed from the game immediately.

Maybe if the game then spawned a black person, but seeing as it creates a watermelon, it's a non-issue.

The book Little Black Samb, was very popular amongst kids for over half a century wen it hit. Its old as dirt now, but it was written in 1899 by a Scottish author called Helen Bannerman.  
 
But then came the controversy about the book was stereotyping and it was a condescending way of portraying black people.  
 
The book came to my country in 1937, and i remember hearing it in the 80's when i was a kid. But the word Sambo, never held any racial meaning to me, it was just another character name. 
 
It was never used as a racial slur by people in my age. And i guess these days, younger people haven't even heard of the word. So i can't see why this has to be an issue.     

It's a good thing they haven't tried porch monkey yet.
 
I kid, I kid. And now to lighten the mood:

" Fucking ridiculous. People should shut up. Honestly... Racism in the soup next... "

"And i guess these days, younger people haven't even heard of the word."

Does anyone really believe they put in the term sambo thinking of the Ecuadorian word for "fig leaf gourd"?  I'd like to see a list of the other Ecuadorian words in the game.  I'm sure it's very comprehensive. 
 
Their explanation insults the intelligence of anyone who isn't being willfully blind.

" @eroticfishcake said:

"Sambo is a slang for sandwich. That's all I can tell you.  Just realised I actually have those melons in my backyard. "

No your thinking of Sando.  What the fuck is a sambo? "

" Uncharted 2 has Twitter support?!  Wow, that's cool!  Funny that they have it rolled out before Xbox Live.  lol  Oh, sorry...what were we talking about? "

I grew up just at the tail end of the whole Sambo thing; I'm not surprised most people don't even know what it refers to.  I know quite a bit about it, and it does have some bad history, even if a lot of it is confused and reactionary.  I just hope people don't make a bigger deal out of it than what it seems pretty clearly to be, which is a bad coincidence.  
 
In addition to being a stupid East Indian Boy turned stupid black boy turned pancake house mascot turned swept-under-the-rug racial epithet, it's also a martial art and a Korean electronics producer...

I wonder if this is some sort of evil genius marketing maneuver in order to get some free publicity for Scribblenauts?

" Does anyone really believe they put in the term sambo thinking of the Ecuadorian word for "fig leaf gourd"?  I'd like to see a list of the other Ecuadorian words in the game.  I'm sure it's very comprehensive.    Their explanation insults the intelligence of anyone who isn't being willfully blind. "

" Does anyone really believe they put in the term sambo thinking of the Ecuadorian word for "fig leaf gourd"?  I'd like to see a list of the other Ecuadorian words in the game.  I'm sure it's very comprehensive.    Their explanation insults the intelligence of anyone who isn't being willfully blind. "